Filter



May 23, 1944.

E. C. SLOAN FILTER Filed Aug. 14, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l mi.-

,S INVENTOR. @am/d k6 SLQZWQQ..

III",

BY@r @D Patented May 23, 1944 OFFICE'.-

2,349,469 FILTER n i Edward Sloan, Geneva, Ill., assixnor to Jesse B.

Geneva, Ill.

Application Ailtust 14, 1941, Serial No. 406,830

(Cl. 21o-204) Hawley,

7 Claims.

vplurality of shell carcasses and so treating the libers that thetreating material will be uniformly distributed on the bers throughoutthe carcass. A still further object is to dissolve a resin in the bathof fibers and water, and accrete a shell carcass onto a former of thedesired form, so

that when the water is evaporated by drying, the resin will be uniformlydistributed on the fibers throughout the carcass.

Another object is to add in suitable amount in the bath of fibers andwater, diatomaceous earth thoroughly mixed inthe b'ath, so that thediatomaceous earth will control the degree 'of porosity of a carcassaccreted onto a former immersed in the bath.

Still another object is to mix in a brous pulp bath diatomaceous earth,and resin in solution, to cause the diatomaceous earth to remain'uniiormly distributed throughout the fibrous structure of a carcassaccreted onto a former of the desired shape in the bat An additionalobject is to add, in the desired manner resin of the desired kind, to afibrous pulp bath, so that in a carcassaccreted onto a porous former insaid bath, and when dried, the resin will stabilize the fibers and thestructure and keep the fibers from softening or swelling in the presenceof water, thus waterproofing the fibers. desirable because it woulddecrease the porosity of the structure. By the present invention theresin will add to the rigidity of the fiber structure, thus furtherwaterproofing the fibers and causing the corrugations orother roughenedsurfaces to remain stili and eilective in the presence of Water, andfurther will keep the structure from rupturing under pressure.

A further object is to so treat the iibers'as such in the bath and thusafford the opportunity to stillen the fibers by the use of the properand desirable resins so, that the accreted dried structure will have adecidedly indenite, irregular,

indeterminate, rough and shaggy surface to lessen the possibility of acoating or film being formed to close oil the porosity.

Such softening or swelling would be unto a second bath stage filter inwhich the various stages leach comprise a pair of brous shells foreffecting a certain selected stage of ltering.

A further object is to provide a iilter in which a large mass of bers isaccreted in a bath, either with or without resin, onto a perforatedcore, spool or the like to enable such lter to be easily inserted withina filter casing and readily removed therefrom for renewal when desiredand, if desired, such filter may have a plurality of layers of differentporosity.

Another object is to first accrete onto a porous former a brous articlein a bath not containing resin, and then remove the article thusaccreted to a second bath containing resin, and by suction or pressurecause some of the liquid in the resin bath to pass through theinterstices of the brous article to supplant the of said article.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities will later more fully appear.My invention further resides in the combination, construction andarrangement of parts i1- lustrated in the accompanying drawings, andwhile I have` shown therein preferred embodiments, I wish it understoodthat the same are susceptible of modification and change withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

In the drawings: y

Figure 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of a portion of a filtermember embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of another form of my invention.

Fig. 3 is a. similar view of still another form of my invention.

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section showing a single stage filtermember with parts broken away for convenience.

Fig. 5 is a View Similar to Fig. 4, but showing a multiple stage filtermember embodying my invention.

Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section through. lilter casing andfilter member therein, the lter member being of the mass type instead ofthe shell type shown in the preceding views.

Fig. 7 isa perspective view of the filter member of the type shown inFig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a transverse, vertical section through a tank containing afelting bath and a porous felting former, and atransferr'er thereabovefor carrying an accreted carcass fromthe rst bath for further treatment.similar to Fig. 8 but showing a water among the fibers Fig. 9 is a viewA still further object is Vto provide a multiple second bath containingresin or the like, a porous felting former in the second bath, and thetransferrer thereabove.

Fig. is 'a reduced transverse, vertical section of an oven or the likefor drying the wet carcasses. Referring more in detail to the drawings,Fig. l shows in section a fragment of a wall of a filter membervembodying one form of my invention. In this form the filter member ispreferably formed by accreting it in a fibrous pulp bath onto a porousformer of the desired shape by a differential of pressure which may beapplied as a partial suction or otherwise as desired. In Fig. 1 the rstlayer of the filter member may be a screen l of metallic or textilematerial-as desired placed against the porous outer surface of theformer inthe pulp bath; or this inner screen may be omitted if desired.As any shape or type of porous former desired may be used, and as thesuction of `ilbers onto a porous former in a pulp bath is well known, Ihave shown in Fig. 8 a. simple form of apparatus for the generaloperation of felting or accreting a brous pulp carcass or shell in abath, but without limiting the present invention to the particularshapes shown. In producing the lter wall shown in Fig. 1 inert materialsuch as diatomaceous earth is mixed into the brous pulp bath, withoutthe addition into the bath of any resin. As the fibers and diatomaceousf earth are sucked or otherwise forced against the surface of the porousformer the earth particles 2 will pass through the interstices of thedeposited bers and become more or less concentrated near' the insidesurface of the lter carcass being formed, leaving the bers 3 of theoutside portion of the carcass more porous, and those on and near theinside surface less porous. In a filter of this type the'outer, moreporous portion of the filter wall will filter out the larger suspendedmatter in the fluid being filtered, while the less porousinner portionof the wall will filter out the nner suspended particles. The porosityofthe filter walls may thus be controlled as des'ired by using eitherfine or coarse inert material, or amixture of both fine and coarse. Alsothe degree of filtering may he further controlled by accreting the wallsthicker or thinner and with nne or coarse bers either with or withoutthe addition of inert material.

Examples of some ofthe inert materials that may be used in carrying outmy invention are diatomaceous earth, vermiculite, kieselguhr, fullersearth, and the like. Also it is to be understood that while my inventionpreferably contemplates the use of my novel lter members in filteringoil andthe like, it is not to be limited thereto, but may be used forfiltering any uids to which my lter members may be adapted.

Another form ofmy invention is shown in Fig. 2 in which a suitable resinis added to the fibrous pulp bath, as a result of which I havediscovered that the inert material is given uniform dispersion anddistribution throughout the interstices of the iibers, instead ofconcentrating on the inner layer as in Fig. l. In Fig. 2 the innerscreen member I may be used or omitted as desired, and as shown in thisview of the drawings the particles of inert material 2' are distributeduniformly throughout the brous wall. This phenomenon of the uniformdistribution of the particles of inert material when resin is used inthe bath is of great importance in that it enables close control of theporosity by. controlling the kind and amount of inert material used.Awater soluble resin is preferable but I dov not wish the invention tobe unnecessarily limited thereto.

Some of the resins that are suitable in carrying out my inventioninclude phenol formaldehyde, cresylic acid formaldehyde, meta-paracresol, urea. formaldehyde, thiourea formaldehyde, and the like, or theforegoing the formaldehyde; these resina being in the .A stage in whichthe condensation has been arrested before the resin has becomehydrophobic. Thesel resins may be dissolved in water so that thepercentage of solids is from 3% to 7% by weight which amount of solidswill be sufficient for the stiifening, water-proofing and giving of wetstrength to the fibers of the lter members as more fully described laterherein.

In Fig. 3 is shown a fragment of a. portion of the fibrous filter memberwall in which the surface first meeting the oil or other fluid beingfiltered is extremely rough, shaggy, indefinite, indeterminate orirregular as indicated at l so as t0 lessen the possibility of a coatingor film being formed to close off the porosity, as a film formingsubstance would have the tendency to attach itself to the iirst part ofthe surface with which it comes in contact. The porosity away from thesurface of the filter may be great or less as desired. A giverf amountof film forming material will have less tendency to form a continuousfilm-and thus close oil or stop the `effectiveness of the lteringarea-where thel indefinite or shaggy surface is present as in Fig. 3 tolter out the film forming material. This tendency to prevent theformation of a film on the filter surface may be better understood bylikening it to the uneven, shaggy appearance of a lawn of more or lesshigh grass in the spring when a. light fall of snow falls on the same.

In Fig. 3 as in Fig. 2, resin is added to the' pulp bath from which thefilter member is accreted. As stated water-soluble resin is preferred.This resin is dissolved in the bath in desirable proportion. A suitableproportion is to dissolve 5% by weight of solid resins in the bath waterin which the fibers to be accreted on the former are suspended. andprior to drying a 30 gram filter carcass will have approximately gramsof water containing 5% solid resin. When the carcass is dried the 5% or4 grams of resin remains in the carcass or iter shell, distributeduniformly throughout the bers. The resin has also to a certain extententered the fibers themselves as well as coating and joining the fibers.This method of treating the fibers as such in the bath Waterproofs thefibers by using the proper resins and stiiens the fibers.

A further advantage in treating the fibers of the filter unit with resinis that the resin stabilizes the fibers and the structure, and preventsthe fibers from softening or swelling in the presence of water, shouldsome water pass through the interstices of the filter when filtering oilor other fluids. Should the fibers become soft or swell (as they willnot do with the present invention) this would decrease the porosity ofthe structure which is undesirable, and might even lead to the ruptureof the filter unit.

Referring back to Fig. 2, the incorporation of resin in the filter unitas described, will not only keep the inert material uniformly dispersedand distributed with relation to the fibers, but it will also allow agreaterthickness of accretion with a given uniformity of porosity. Theresin in the bath prevents the inert-material from gathering in clustersor layers in the ilbersandinsures with lfurfural replacing When accretedor felted 1 words, it stabilizes the uniformity of distribution bothduring the making of alter unit and in its use. The increasing of thewet .strength of the bersas described above will -also render themwater-proof as will be readily understood.

In Fig. i is shown a double shell single stage lter unit comprising anouter-shell and an inner shell 6 with the upper edges secured togetherby stitching, sewing, stapling or the like 'i to close that end of thelter unit. The base portions 8 and 9 of the outer and inner shells 5 and8 respectively are formed with registering central openings around. theedges of the mate.

Fig. 6, or of any other suitable shape and construction desired. Inoperation the oil or other uid to be ltered will enter the lter casing I4 at I5, then pass through the shells 5 and 6 to the space I6therebetween, then through the apertures i3 of sleeve I2 and out throughany suitable outlet opening provided in the base of the filter andassociated parts.v

In Fig. 5 is shown a multiple stage lter unit comprising four shells I1,I8, I9 and 2l) arranged in two pairs of which shells I1 and i3 form onepair having a. reinforcing collar 2l in the openings of the baseportions, and shells I9 and 2D form another pair having a reinforcingcollar 22 in the openings of their base portions. These shells will bestitched, sewed, stapled or otherwise secured together at their upperedges asv indicated at 23 for a purpose similar to that described abovein connection with Fig. 4. The two stage lter unit of Fig. 5 will beinserted in filter casing M or other suitable casing in the mannersuggested above in connection with Fig. 4. In the lter unit of Fig. 5much greater efficiency in ltering may be achieved however, because theouter and inner shells il and 20vmay be of different construction fromthe intermediate shells it and i9 to give added filtering possibilities.For example, the outer and inner shells Il and 2t may be of mediumcoarseness to lter out the sludge or heavierparts of the dirt in the oilor the like, and the two intermediate shells it and i9 may be of muchner porosity so as tov lter out particles which color the oil black orgray, by having a combination of bers and inert material, or bers, resinand inert material-in their composition as desired. The oil or other uidbeing ltered would first ow inwardly through the shells l1 and 20 intospaces 23' and M to eiect the rst stage of ltering, and thence ,3 lterisshown in Fig. 6 in/vertical cross section. The bers used in accretingthis type of lter are preferably rock wool. but other kinds of bers maybe used if desired. As seen in Fig. 6 the casing I4 is provided with aninlet IS'and an outlet 2l, the cover 28 vbeing removable by removing thehollow stud 3I' to permit insertion into the lcasing and removaltherefrom of the perforated spool orcorev 29 upon which the rock wool 30vor other bers are accreted. As seen in Fig. 6 the thickness of theaccreted bers 30 is considerable. As shown the core 29 is perforated topermit the oil or other `iiuid toy pass therethrough (after.

passing through the rock wool bers) and thence out through the outlet28, there being provided in the walls of the hollowstud 3i openings 43l.to permit the passage of the filtrate. The hollow stud 3| is threadedinto the base 21 at 33 to permit tightening and removal ofthe parts, andabove the upper cover or hub cap 34 of the spool is a coil spring 35 toforce the lter unit downwardly. l 'Ihe spring 35 is held undercompression between the cap 34 and the shoulder 36 of the head 3T, therebeing interposed a. gasket 38 between the head 31 and the lter casingcover 28 to prevent leakage. A cloth covering is preferably applied overthe outside of the core 29, to prevent the bers from passing throughthrough shells I8 and I9 into space 25, and then through the outletperforated spacer 2Ia to any desired receiving means to effect the nalltering and, if desired, a brightening of the oil. Also if desired, therst stage might be composed of coarse water-absorbing fibers to absorbwater that may be entrained in the oil, so that water as such will notimpair the efficiency of the later stage or stages.

M'y invention further contemplates the production of lters for oil andother uids in which the` filter unit is accreted onto a perforatedhollow core or spool, the accreted lter portion having considerable massand thickness. Such a holes h in the core.

Fig. '7 shows how the accreted bers 30 together with the core 29 may bemade separate and installed in the spool when fresh and removed jtherefrom as a lter unit after use. Also the core 29 may have the rockWool bers accreted thereon to any desired thickness by providingremovable ends 39, 40 to the core 29 while in the accreting bath todefine the shape of the ends of the accreted bers, or other removableblank ends of the desired width may be applied to the core duringaccreting as desired to dene `the ends of the lter unit. The accretedbers of the form of lter shown in Figs. 6 and 7 may have resin, or inertmaterial or both in desired proportions incorporated therein duringaccretion, as

set forth earlier herein in connection with the description oi Figs. 1to 3l inclusive, and fora similar purpose. A gasket 4l is providedbetweenthe outer edge of the casing cover 28 and the upper edge of thefilter casing to prevent leakage. I may also provide three layers a, band c (see Fig. 7) of different porosity, for example, these differentlayers maybe of different neness of bers, and may have diatomaceousearth or the like in one or more but with resin in all of the layers. Inother words, the layers will be so constructed in one or the other ofthe diierent ways heretofore described so as to have different porosityinthe dierent layers as desired, with the coarser porosity in the outerlayer, a ner porosity in the next layer and a still ner porosity in theinner layer so as to give different degrees of ltering in the differentlayers. Any greater or less number of layers may be used as desired.

My invention also contemplates the accreting bath and immersing it intoa second bath containing resin in solution in water and pulling orforcing by suction or .pressure the resin solution through the saidaccreted article and supplanting the original water remaining in theinterstices in the article, with the resin solution, and drying thearticle by removing the water andleaving the resin impregnation in andon the bers.

ings in the former and depositing the fibers thereon to form a` carcassor shell designated generally in Fig. 8 at i6'.

The hose 53 is formed with a c0115! in order to permit the former 52 tobe moved upwardly out of the bath, or downwardly thereinto Ias desired.

`Coil 54 passes through the wall of tank 5l) and connects with themanifold 55, into which extend the air pressure pipe 5B and the `suctionpipe 51, which latter two pipes will be connected with any suitablemeans of air pressure and suction. Pipes 56 and 51 are controlled byvalve 58 which may be operated to connect either the air pressure lineor the suction line as desired to the hose 53 so as to create either asuction on the interior of the porous former or introduce air pressurethereinto selectively. The former and wet carcass are shown in dottedlines just above the tank 50.

Above the tank 50 is a transferrer 59 for receiving and transferring thewet carcass to the second tank 60 containing a fiber-water bath 6ihaving resin included therein. Transferrer 5 9 is formed on its interiorwith the porous shell 62 of substantially the same internal size as theexterior of the wet carcass l 6', and into which holllow interior thewet carcass is introduced by moving the former 52 upwardly thereinto,`ai'ter which the valve 63 will be operated to introduce from a suitablesource of supply a suction in the space 5I so as to cause the wetcarcass to adhereto the interior of the transferrer. If desired, thiscan be further facilitated by introducing air under pressure into theinterior of the former to tend to force the wet carcass away from theexterior of the former 52, after which the'former will be lowered againinto bath 5|, the air pressure cut off and suction introduced into theformer to accrete another carcass thereon.

As soon as the former 52 has deposited its wet carcass on the interiorof the transferrer and the former lowered away from the transferrer, thelatter will be moved by any suitable means into the position shown inFig. 9, after which the former 651s introduced thereinto and suctioncreated in the former 65 to suck the wet carcass thereagainst. Atthesame time, the suction in the space 64 of the transferrer will be cutoff and any desired amount of air pressure introduced through pipe 66into space 64 to further cause theqwet` carcass to grip the exterior ofthe upstanding porous portion of former 65, thus causing the carcass toadhere to the former.

The former 65 with the we t carcass thereon is shown in Fig. 9 midwaybetween the transferrer and tank 50. The former 65 together with the wetcarcass I6 thereon will then be lowered into .as-raies shown in Fig. 9not used, the resin will be added to bath 5I. When, however, the resinis added to bath BI, there will be no resin added to bath 5l but thecarcasses will be accreted without resin in bath 5I and then introducedas described above into bath 6I containing resin, which results inf thesuction in former B5 carrying the resin containing liquid through thecarcass and incorporating resin into the carcass in the form shown inFig.9. In Fig. 9, the manifold 55', air pressure pipe 56', suction pipe51' and valve 58' are similar to the corresponding parts described inconnection with Fig. 8.

In Fig. 10 is shown a heating oven 1li through which the carcasses I6'may be passed for drying,

hot air being introduced from any suitable. source of supply through thepipe 1|- and perforated discharge head 12, a chimney 13 or outlet pipebeing provided as desired.

Having now described my invention,

l. A filter member comprisinga body of ac- Icreted, interlaced Vfiberscoated with resin', diatomaceou's earth in the interstices of the body,the diatomaceous earth being uniformly distributed throughout theinterstices of the fibrous body to control the degree of porosity of*the filter mem-ber, the resin being of such character and so appliedthat it assists in effecting said uniform distribution. i

2. A filter member comprising a Ibody of accreted, interlaced fiberscoated with resin, and having particles of inert material in theinterstices of the fibrous body to control the degree of porosity of fthe lter, the resin being of such character and so applied that itassists in effecting uniform distribution of the inert materialthroughout the interstices of the fibrous body and to stabilize thefibers and prevent them from softening and swelll ing in the presence ofwater.

3. A filter member comprising a body of accreted, interlaced bers, saidfibrous body having tank B0 into the position shown in Fig. 9, and

bath 6i is resin similar to that previously de-A scribed in connectionwith Figs. 1 to '1.

When the carcasses are formed solely in a single bath such as shown inFig.' 8, and the bath incorporated therethrough resin and diatomaceousearth, the exterior surface of the filter member being irregular,indefinite and shaggy to prevent the formation of a film thereon thatwould tend to clog the interstices between the fibers, the presence cfthe resin on the fibers causing them to be rigid and maintain theirregular and shaggy condition, land the diatomaceous earth controllingthe degree of porosity of the filter, the `diatomaceous earth beinguniformly distributed throughout the interstices of the fibers. l

4. In a multiple stage filter, a plurality of pairs of accreted, fibrouspulp shells, said shells being in concentric relation and securedtogether around one edge, the two shells of each pair each having anopening ih its central bottom portion and secured together around saidopening but unattached with relation to each other from said opening tothe opposite secured ends, perforate means for spacing the aperturedcentral bottom of each pair, said pairs being positioned concentricallyone pair within the other, whereby the fluid being filtered will passfirst through one shell of each pair into the space between each pair ofshells, and then through the other shell of each pair into the spacebetween pairs, and then out through said' perforate means.

5. lIn a multiple stage filter, a plurality of pairs of accreted, brouspulp shells concentrically positioned one witlin the other, the walls ofveach pair of shells and .the walls of all pairs being secured togetherat one end, means securing the other ends of the walls of each pairtogether with one pair in spaced relation to the other pair and forforming an outlet from the space between the pairs. whereby the fluidbeing filtered will pass inwardly through the exterior wall of each pairto the space within each pair. and then through the interior wall ofeach' pair to the space between the pairs and ,out through said outletfrom the `space between the pairs. i

6. In a multiple stage iilter, a'plurallty of pairs of accreted, brouspulp` shells concentrically positioned one within the other, the wallsof each pair of shells and the walls of all pairs being secured togetherat one end.' means securing the other ends of the .walls ofeach pairtogetherwith one pair in spaced relation to the other pair and forforming an voutlet from the space between the pairs, whereby thehuid-beine filtered will pass inwardly through the exterior wall ofveach pair to the space within eachl pair, and then through the interiorwall of each pair to the Space between the pairs, the exterior shell ofeach pair having greater porositythan the interior shell of eachpain'and means `for draining the filtered fluid out through said outletfrom the space between the pairs.

' other end and secured together around said open f ings but unattachedwith relation to each other from the end having the opening to theopposite secured ends. perforate means for spacing apart the aperturedcentral portions of the two pairs, said pairs being positioned so thatthe uid being iiltered will pass first through one shell of each pairinto the space betweeneach pair of shells, and then through the othershell of each pair into the space between pairs, and then out ,i throughsaid perforate means, the fibers of the shells of one of said pairsbeing coated with resin and having particles of inert material uniformlydistributed in the lnterstices between the bers thereof, the resin'being of such character and so applied that it assists in effecting saiduniform distribution.

EDWARD C. SLOAN.

